In the retail food industry, including both grocery stores and restaurants, there is a need for a dispenser for solid flowable bulk materials, such as cereals, coffee, nuts, and other similar products. While cereal intended for serving in restaurants and cafeterias, may be provided in packages designed for individual servings, the individual packaging adds considerably to the overall cost of the cereal, especially when one considers the cost of the packaging, the greater storage space required, and the cost of collecting and disposing of the packaging. It would be highly desirable to have a dispenser for each type of cereal served in a restaurant or cafeteria. In a restaurant in would be desirable for a wait person to be able to easily dispense a serving of a particular cereal into a bowl. Similarly, in a cafeteria it would be desirable for a patron to be able to easily dispense a serving of cereal into a bowl. Bulk dispensers have been tried in such application in the past, but have not fully met the desired performance expectations. For instance, bulk dispensers consisting of a storage bin located over a screw feed or auger have been tried. However, with this type of dispenser, a frequent problem has been the jamming or bridging of the bulk material in the storage bin, such that it does not flow to the screw feeder or auger. Another problem has been the crushing or shearing of the bulk material by the screw feed or auger.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a dispenser for flowable bulk materials, such as cereals, coffee, nuts and other similar products, which would readily dispense a desired amount of the bulk material without significant damage to the material, such as by crushing. It would be further desirable that the dispenser be usable with various types of bulk material, such as different types of breakfast cereal. Another desirable feature would be that the dispenser be readily manually operable by hand, without the need for an electrical connection to an electricity source to energize a motor or a solenoid operator. Still another desirable feature would be that the dispenser be readily disassembled for a complete cleaning to assure that the dispenser meets sanitary requirements.